Circuit-controller for explosive-engines



R. VARLEY. CIRCUIT CONTROLLER FOR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

' APPLICATION FILED DEC. 19, 1919.

1,344,464, Patentd June 22, 1920.

WITNESS: {0 f 7 2/ my INVENTOR, r 4 2 G4 M "7% BY I A ORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.RICHARD VARLEY, 0F ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO VARLEY DUPLEXMAGNET COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CIRCUIT-CONTROLLER FOR EXPLOS-IVE-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented June 22, 1920.

Application filed December 19, 1919. Serial No. 346,047.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RICHARD VARLEY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Englewood, in the county ofBergen and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Circuit- Controllers for Explosive-Engines, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines and has specialreference to the ignition, starting and other electrical systemspertaining thereto. The object of the invention is to provide certainautomatic protection devices for such systems, to accomplish which myinvention consists in utilizing the vacuum produced in the intakemanifold of the engine while running as a means to maintain certaincircuits closed and to prevent others from being closed and,

to a condition for manual control. Specifically, my invention consistsof a casing in communication with the intake manifold of the-engine andcontaining one or more elec tric switches or cut-outs. subject tolimited control by hand and by the vacuum in the intake manifold, thedetails of which will be described in-connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of the mechanismcomprising the invention, the cover plate being removed from the casing,and

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section thereof.

The casing of the device is made in two parts, indicated by 1 and 2 eachof which is cylindrical or drum shaped and the part 2 being of somewhatless diameter than 1. The casing portion 1 is. closed at the rear by anintegral disk 3 and at the front by a removable cover 4 which is held inplace by a spring clamp 5. The casing portion 2 is provided with aflange 6 through which screws 7 pass to secure it concentrically to thedisk 3. The rear of the casing 2 is closed by an integral disk 8. Fromthe disk 3 of the casing 1, a tubular column 9 projects forward "axiallyand on its opposite sides about midway of its length, are two slots 10and 11 respectively.- 12 is a lever pivoted at 13 on the inside of thecasing 1 near the side wall thereof. It extends acrossthe diameter ofthe casin and passes out through a slot in the opposite side thereof formanipulation either directly or through a link, which may be attached at11 to swing the lever in a plane at right angles to the axis of thecasing. The lever is bent into an arcuate form at its middle portion, soas to pass around the column 9, this bent portion being provided with alug 15 adapted to enter the slot 10 in the column 9. The lever alsocarries a lug 16 having a non-conducting block 17 attached to itsextremity against the inner face of which rests the free end of a springarm 18, whose opposite end is secured to a binding post 19 fixed in, andinsulated from, the side wall of the casing 1. The free end of the arm18 is provided with an electrical contact 20 which faces another contact21 carried upon the free end of another spring arm 22, likewise attachedto a binding post 23 carried by, and insulated from, the casing 1. Thespring arm 18 normally exerts pressure against the block 17 sufficientto hold the lever 12 at its extreme right hand position with the contact'20 out of connection with the contact 21. 21 and 25 represent twocontact springs arranged on the opposite side of the casing 1 from thesprings 18 and 22 and respectively carrying contacts 26 and 27. Thesesprings are supported respectively by arms--28 and 29 which in turn aresecured to two binding posts 30 and 31, mounted in and insulated fromcasing 1. To the free end of the spring 24 is attached an insulatingstrip 32 which extends through the slot 11 in the column'9 and projectsa short distance toward the axis of the column. This spring also has abend-33, adjacent to which an extension or horn 31 attached tothe lever12. stands in suchposition that when the lever is moved to the left theextremity of the horn engages the bend 33 forcing the spring inwarduntil the contacts 26 and 27 are brought into connection. The under sideof the born 34 is provided with insulation as shown in Fig. 2, toprevent escape of current from the spring to the horn.

The casing member 2 contains a bellows 35, comprising a rear head 36, afront head 37 and extension sides 38. To the center of the front head isfixed a threaded nipple 39 having an axial passage, the nipple beingscrewed into a threaded opening at the center of the disk 3 of thecasing portion 1 and entering the bottom of the column 9, the

nipple being firmly held by a lock nut -10.

of the bellows is a rod 41 extending axially of the bellows through thepassage in the nipple 39 and into the column 9, where it is fitted witha head 42 having a threaded passage adapted to receive a screw 43 whichsecures in place a larger head 44 having a diameter substantiallyfitting the bore of the column 9. The rod 41 passes freely through thepassage in the nipple 39 so as to admit atmospheric pressure to the interior of the bellows. Vithin and against the rear wall of the casingpart 2, is a disk 45 having attached to its central portion a number ofradial spring fingers 46 which bear against the rear head 36 of thebellows, tending to compress the latter under normal conditionssufficiently to hold the head 44 flush with the outer end of the column9.

The casing 12 is placed in communication with the intake manifold orpipe of an internal combustion engine in any convenient way. Such amanifold is indicated by 47 and I prefer to attach the casing to thewall of the manifold at the junction between the manifold and the pipeleading thereto from the carbureter. The attachment is made by means ofscrews 48 indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and communication betweenthe manifold and the casing is established by means of a passage 49 ofsmall bore leading through the wall of the manifold and the rear wall ofthe casing part 2. ln this way the chamber within the casing part 2 issubjected to the same fluid pressure as exists at any given time withinthe manifold.

To the binding posts 19 and 23 may be attached the terminals of anelectric circuit which may be the circuit of a starting motor for theengine and for the purpose of this description will be understood assuch. The binding posts 30 and 31 may carry the terminals of a circuitwhich controls the ignition of the engine. Both of these circuits arenormally open at the contacts 2021 and 26-27 respectively and under thesame condition the plunger head 44 is at its ere treme outer position,its rear face being forward of the two slots 10 and 11, it being held inthis position by the contraction of the bellows due to the pressure ofthe spring fingers 46 against its rear wall. The normal condition herereferred to is that when the engine is not running and atmosphericpressure exists throughout the chambers of the casings 1 and 2 and themanifold. In using this device to start the engine the lever 12 ispulled to the left, whereupon both pairs of contacts 2021 and 2627 areclosed by the two spring arms 18 and 24 yielding to the pressure of thelever. The starting motor is thereby energized and the ignition circuitis closed. As soon as the engine starts lever 12 is released and returnsto its former position under the action of spring 18, or of some otherspring properly applied for that purpose. The starting of the engine isaccompanied by a reduction of fluid pressure in the manifold 47, due tothe suction of the engine pistons. This reduction of pressure, orvacuum, is immediately communicated to the chamber in the casing 2whereupon the atmospheric pressure in the bellows extends the latter,compressing the spring fingers 46 and pulling the plunger head 44 inwardagainst the projecting end of the spring 24 to hold the contacts 26 and27 closed, the plunger head at the same time covering the slot 10 in thecolumn and locking the lever 12 in itsright hand position to hold thecontacts 2021 open. The ignition circuit is therefore maintained. closedto insure the running of the engine, while the starting circuit islocked in open condition and cannot, by ac cident or design, becomeclosed while the engine is running, an incident which if it should occurmight entail disastrous results. When the engine stops, atmosphericpressure throughout the mechanism is restored, the plunger movesoutward, opens the ignition circuit and releases lever'12, thusrestoring the mechanism to normal condition ready to again start theengine.

Tt will be understood that the device may operate upon electricalcircuits used for any purpose whatever in connection with the engine,its function being merely to "control the actuation of the contacts, andto protect the apparatus where protection is required.

I claim:

1. The combination of a gas engine having an intake pipe, an electricswitch, manually controlled means and means responsive to the vacuum inthe intake pipe, one of said means being operative to initially closethe switch and the other to maintain it closed.

2. Tn an internal combustion engine, the

combination of a switch controlling a starter circuit, a switchcontrollin an ignition circuit, means for manually closing sald switchesand means whereby a vacuum created by the operation of the engine willhold one of said switches open and the other closed.

3. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of the intakemanifold, a casing in communication therewith, two switches in saidcasing controlling respectively two engine control circuits, a manuallyoperated controlling device operative to close both of said switches andmeans re sponsive to the pressure in the intake manifold for holding oneswitch closed and the other open.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my signature.

RICHARD VAKRLEY.

